Monthly Archives: July 2014

London, UK – The number of reported instances of anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK has risen sharply since the murder of a British soldier in London last year, with women wearing traditional Islamic dress most likely to be the victims of abuse and street attacks, according to a new study.

But researchers believe that a widespread lack of trust in the police in Muslim communities and endemic under-reporting of hate crime masks the true scale of the problem, with most Islamophobic incidents, ranging from online trolling to verbal abuse and extreme violence, going unlogged and unpunished.

The publication of the report also comes amid concerns expressed by some Muslims about their safety on British streets following the murder of a female Saudi Arabian student in Colchester last month. Police say the attack may have been religiously motivated because the victim was wearing an abaya.

London, England — Parents in the UK who force their children into marriage could be jailed for up to seven years under new legislation outlawing the practice, but campaigners are divided over whether the threat of criminal trial and tough punishments will deter perpetrators, or simply deter victims and those at risk from coming forward.

The new crime of forcing someone to marry against their will, which came into force earlier this month, gives police and prosecutors the power to pursue anyone suspected of using physical, psychological, emotional or financial pressure to coerce others, typically relatives, into marriage.